Texas National Guard Troops Will Be Armed, Says Governor

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) said some of his state’s National Guard troops “will be armed” on the U.S.-Mexico Border. A reported 250 soldiers are being deployed. “Whenever they’re in a position where they could be confronted by someone who is very dangerous, they will be armed,” Governor Abbott told KTSA’s Trey Ware. “Our National Guard will be able to fully defend themselves.” Abbott explained they will not be armed in an aggressive fashion but as appropriate for self-defense while doing a dangerous job. “We want to downplay any notion that would be misinformed that our National Guard are showing up with military bayonets, trying to take on anybody who’s coming across the border because that is not their role,” the Texas governor explained. The Lone Star State is ramping up its response to President Trump’s request for national guard troops to be deployed to the border in response to the surge of migrants crossing the border in March. Border Patrol agents arrested nearly 38,000 in the month of March, an increase of more than 10,000 in a single month and an increase of more than 200 percent from March 2017. Governor Abbott said there is a “mathematical need” to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border. “You need to understand that there is a mathematical need for this because the people coming across the border have increased dramatically,” Abbott said on Fox and Friends Monday morning, “more than 200 percent month on month in the month of March, of what… [Read full story]